The Executive Director of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Mrs. Kosi Yankey-Ayeh has said the agency under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo has been more efficient and proactive in addressing the needs of the youth. According to her, the scheme has received more funding under the current administration than what the agency did under the previous administrations. She indicated that before she took office, the NBSSI had just GHC19, 000 to its name compared to the about GHC1 billion the agency has had to manage before the COVID-19 outbreak which was largely sourced from the Government of Ghana and Donor and International Development agencies.
Speaking at the maiden edition of the Nation Building Updates in Accra on Tuesday, September 22, 2020, under the theme “Leadership that delivers for the Youth”, Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh noted that through government support and interventions, the NBSSI has been able to expand and decentralize its operations. She said the agency has since 2017 facilitated access to business finance and has helped the youth in diverse ways to set up businesses.
“We are focused on providing support to businesses and since 2017 we have expanded our support services from 175 to 185 districts and we continue to expand across various districts of the country. Do people wonder what we have been doing? We have facilitated the disbursement of over GHS 36 million to small businesses and provided access to finance which is the core and pillar of the work that we do. This does not include COVID-19 interventions. 14,758 businesses were created around the same time and a lot of other jobs were created within these businesses to support the youth.
“This is unprecedented considering the work that the board had been doing overtime. Over 300,000 programs have been implemented across the country and in almost every district. As I mentioned, there are 185 business advisory centers and 37 new Business Resource Centers have been established”.
Expressing optimism for Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) who have been hit by the adverse effect of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Executive Director noted that government intervention through the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) Business Support Scheme, an initiative meant to deal with the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 MSMEs, the NBSSI has been able to substantially reduce the high unemployment rate in the country as well as maximize the contribution of small businesses to the country’s economic and social development.
